From the archive: Crowds lay siege to party offices

Sunday 23 August 2009 19.05 EDT
First published on Sunday 23 August 2009 19.05 EDT

Moscow

They streamed in from all directions. By mid-afternoon, thousands of exhilarated Russians had converged on Moscow's Staraya Ploshchad (Old Square), the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Brandishing the newly instituted Russian tricolour and chanting "Down with the Communist Party", they linked arms to form a human chain around the giant complex housing the Russian and Soviet Communist Party headquarters.

The previous night, the complex had been sealed off by the transport police, when crowds of demonstrators, having succeeded in pressuring Mossoviet (Moscow local council) to remove the statue of Felix Dzherzhinsky, founder of the KGB, had then threatened to break in and take the secret party documents by force – inspired by the storming of Stasi headquarters in East Berlin.

But in the end yesterday's human chain was a peaceful attempt to stop Central Committee members and functionaries from entering to remove or destroy documents containing potentially incriminating evidence.

In the old days the Central Committee archives were probably the most closely guarded in the country and they are thought to hold key documents which could demystify the coup attempt.

One man told me: "For four years they (the communists) have been blocking all attempts at reform. They have raised prices, they've provoked civil war in the republics and now they try to organise a fascist coup. We must make sure that all the documents are not destroyed, so that they can be prosecuted."

Demonstrators began to allow women staff members to leave after officials pleaded that it was unfair to make hostages of them. But when demonstrators began to search the bags the women were taking out, they decided not to let them out after all.

Halfway through the afternoon van-loads of militia arrived to evacuate the remaining staff from the complex to applause from the demonstrators who knew once again the authorities had bowed to their demand. Minutes later, seven investigators from the General Procurator's office of the Soviet Union arrived. All the signs were that an investigation was under way.

Another police car drew up and an officer announced that Mr Yeltsin had signed a decree, with Mr Gorbachev's blessing, confiscating the Central Committee building from the party and handing it over to the state. The crowd broke again into applause.